Sport

Richards comes to the rescue

With Southampton's recognised goalscorers continuing to miss out it can't be too long before Dave Jones chooses to make an attacker…

By TREVOR HAYLETT
Tue Dec 14 1999 - 00:00

With Southampton's recognised goalscorers continuing to miss out it can't be too long before Dave Jones chooses to make an attacker out of Dean Richards, whose splendid header gave his side their first win in the FA Cup for four seasons and a shot at Aston Villa in the next round.

Ipswich took no time to remind Southampton of the qualities that have re-established them as serious contenders for promotion, forcing three corners inside the opening 90 seconds.

With Gary Croft starting a prison sentence for motoring offences, George Burley restored Fabian Wilnis to the wide right position, and the Dutchman gave Ipswich a strong presence down both flanks. With Jim Magilton keen to hold sway over his former colleagues in midfield, there was plenty to warm Suffolk souls.

Matt Holland almost scored for Ipswich from a Wilnis cross, only to see the ball squirt wide by a few inches. But with Mark Hughes in an advance position beside Marian Perhas and Stuart Ripley looking to push Jamie Clapham back at every opportunity, Southampton also enjoyed plenty of chances.

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Southampton went ahead in the 40th minute as Jo Tessem swung a free-kick in from the right Richards delayed his movement until late, and that was enough to catch Tony Mowbray off guard and on his heels. The header was keenly angled and flew past Richard Wright's groping hand.

Having taken the game right up to their Premiership opponents the goal crushed Ipswich's morale, and they took a long while to show the same incisiveness again. They were not helped when Johnson hobbled off just past the hour and his replacement Jonas Axeldal, to widespread dismay, found himself in the way of a goal-bound shot from Richard Naylor.

IPSWICH: R Wright, Wilnis (J Wright 46), McGreal, Mowbray, Brown, Clapham, Stockwell (Naylor 72), Magilton, Holland, Johnson (Axeldal 65), Scowcroft. Subs Not Used: Salmon, Holster.

SOUTHAMPTON: Jones, Tessem, Richards, Lundekvam, Bridge, Ripley, Dodd, Oakley, Soltvedt, Hughes (Beattie 77), Pahars. Subs Not Used: Le Tissier, Moss, Boa Morte, Benali. Booked: Hughes. Goals: Richards 40.

Referee: G Barber (Tring, Herts).